SE Fireworks

Former European Parliamentarian Paul van Buitenen is filing a complaint against TNO accusing the research institute of committing fraud during the investigation into the catastrophic fireworks explosion in Enschede in 2000, investigative journalism platform Follow the Money reported on Monday. This prompted SE Fireworks director Rudi Bakker to file a review request in an ultimate attempt to force the judiciary to re-do the entire investigation, RTV Oost reports.

The Dutch authorities made multiple mistakes while investigating the fireworks disaster at SE Fireworks in Enschede on May 13th, 2000, according to the results of a four year long investigation by former MEP Paul van Buitenen. The Public Prosecutor deliberately misled the judiciary to make sure that the criminal investigation had only one conclusion - that the government was not to blame, Van Buitenen concluded, NOS reports.

Willie Pater, co-director of SE Fireworks, told his story for the first time to ED on Wednesday - 15 years after the fireworks disaster in Enschede that left 23 people dead, nearly a thousand injured and a whole neighborhood wiped off the map. He no longer feels guilty, he told the newspaper.